"We are a singing group, but we also seek to entertain, so it's not just a concert - it's an experience"

Just like their name implies, the Yale Whiffenpoofs singing group combines world-renowned tradition and excellence with clever and somewhat irreverent entertainment. After ten long years, they are finally returning to Israel this summer.

The Yale Whiffenpoofs, or Whiffs as they are affectionately called, have been a venerable institution for almost 100 years and they are still the equivalent of royalty in the world of a capella singing, performing far beyond the elite New Haven, Connecticut campus where they are students. Indeed, the Whiffs frequently perform throughout the United States and in many other countries, appearing in concerts, special events and on television.

The Whiffs began as a senior quintet that met for concerts at Mory’s Temple Bar, the legendary Yale tavern that dates back to 1849 and where the Whiffs still sing regularly to this day. Over the years, the Whiffenpoofs have included many gifted performers and famous people, such as Cole Porter and Senator Prescott Bush, father of former President George H.W. Bush.

Every summer, the Whiffs embark on a three-month world tour. This year, they are traveling to 13 countries: New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, India, Kenya, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Russia. Israel has been included on their itinerary for the first time in ten years, with the Israel portion of their tour is being organized by the Yale Club of Israel – an organization of Yale alumni living in Israel with over 200 members They will be giving three concerts here during the second week of August: in Tel Aviv, Raanana and in Jerusalem.

Yale's a capella culture

A capella singing – defined as vocal music without instrumental accompaniment – plays a remarkably important role at Yale. There are 15 a capella singing groups on campus, of which six are all-male, four are all-female and five are co-ed. Each has its own style and repertoire and comprises 10-20 singers. Like most of the other singing groups, a majority of Whiffenpoof songs comes from the traditional American songbook, with lots of George Gershwin and Cole Porter numbers. However, new arrangements are added every year, with an increasing number of 'rock' and 'pop' songs joining their repertoire after being adapted to their special vocal style.

At Yale, after an arduous month-long audition process, Freshmen (1^st year students) are "tapped" each fall to join 13 of the 15 singing groups. After three years of singing with one of the other Yale groups, the 14 most talented men are tapped in the spring of their Junior (3^rd) year to be members of the following year's Whiffenpoofs and the 14 most talented women are tapped for the prestigious all-female counterpart to the Whiffs, Whim'n Rhythm. Since being a Whiff is practically a full-time occupation, many take a leave of absence from Yale during their Senior (4^th and final) year and only finish their degree after their year-long stint as a Whiffenpoof is completed.

"This year's Whiffs are geographically unusual in that we have a very heavy focus on the northeast: only one comes from California, one from the Midwest and one from Kentucky in Appalachia. The rest of us are from somewhere between Washington and Boston, with six coming from within 1.5 hours of New York," says Peter Kjeldgaard, a member of the Whiffs of '08 and the group's Business Manager. Interestingly, only one of them is a Music major and two never even sang before college and were "sucked into the rich a cappella culture at Yale."

This year's Whiffs have had a busy year. Among their 200 concerts, they performed three times for Former President George H.W. Bush (whose father and brother were both Whiffs), as well as for Tony Blair, Paul McCartney, the CEO of Pepsi Indra Nooyi and a series of U.S. governors and ambassadors. Although the Whiffs of '08 did not make any high-profile television appearances, they performed at the traditional Yale-Harvard Game Weekend Concert, at New York's Carnegie Hall, at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and many other venues. In past years, they also performed for Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton, Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama, in venues such as Lincoln Center and the Rose Bowl, and on TV shows such as Saturday Night Live, NBC’s Today Show and The West Wing.

Not just a concert

The Whiffenpoofs first performed in Israel in 1985 and they returned every summer through the 1990's. During those years, the Yale Club of Israel hosted the group and the Club's President at the time, Aaron Levin, indefatigably accompanied them all over the country, making sure that their stint here was always successful and enjoyable. Together with Yale Club members Don Edelstein and Orrin Persky, Levin organized concerts all over the country, and the Whiffs were invariably received with much enthusiasm by Israeli audiences. Since 1998, Israel has not been a part of the Whiffs' world tour and their Israeli fans are thrilled to finally have them back this summer.

None of the current Whiffs has ever visited Israel before, although two of the 14 are Jewish and have friends and family here. "We plan on sightseeing during our short stay, particularly in Jerusalem," says Peter. "We have the opportunity over this world tour to visit many beautiful places, but there are few places on earth which are home to as many layers of history and culture as Jerusalem, so it's particularly exciting."

And what should Israeli audiences expect? First of all, the sight of 14 young men wearing formal black tails is certainly exceptional, especially in the middle of an Israeli summer. That is what the original Whiffs wore nearly 100 years ago and that is what today's group still wears at every concert.

"We are a singing group, but we also seek to entertain, so it's not just a concert - it's an experience," promises Peter. "All of our performances contain a different mix of soloists and repertoire choices, in order to keep things interesting."  Whiff concerts consist of a cappella arrangements of jazz standards, classic ballads, traditional Yale songs and recent popular hits. However, audiences can be assured that the songs most strongly associated with the Whiffenpoofs will be on any program, including: Down By the Salley Gardens, Time after Time, Midnight Train to Georgia and On Broadway.

One of the highlights of any Whiffenpoof concert is the famous Whiffenpoof Song, with its inimitably eloquent lyrics: "We're poor little lambs who have lost our way / Baa! Baa! Baa!” The Whiffenpoof Song gained nationwide recognition when Rudy Vallee (Whiffs of 1927) recorded a solo version in the 1930s. Later, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald (who was made an honorary Whiffenpoof in 1979), Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley all followed suit with their own recordings.

An Israeli Whiffenpoof

Jerusalem lawyer Orrin Persky has only the fondest memories of his year as a Yale Whiffenpoof in 1970. He remembers that year as a "formative experience" during which he learned a lot about music, friendship and America. As an observant Jew whose prior education consisted of religious schools in New York City, Yale provided quite a culture shock and being a part of the legendary Whiffenpoofs during his Senior (4^th) year was no less than a seminal experience.

Orrin has nothing but praise for the way he was accepted into the group, which included only one other Jew and one half-Jew, and insists that his fellow Whiffs did everything they could to accommodate him. One time, the group was booked to perform in Cleveland on a Saturday night. While the other 13 members flew there on Saturday morning, Orrin took a flight after Shabbat ended, already dressed in his 'tails', and then took a taxi from the airport directly to the concert's venue. When he arrived carrying a suitcase and wearing a coat, he saw a door, opened it, and found himself standing on the stage where the other Whiffs were already performing. He put down his suitcase, took off his coat and joined in just in time for his solo.

Orrin sang for the Spizzwinks, another Yale a capella singing group, during his first two years at Yale, but then decided to spend his third ('Junior') year in Israel. In fact, he was the first Yalie to spend his Junior year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and many more followed in his footsteps. Since Whiffenpoofs are traditional 'tapped' on the Yale campus on a specific day in April of their Junior year, Orrin understood that his absence meant that he would not be a candidate for the prestigious singing group. In those days, unlike today, there were no auditions but, rather, the outgoing Whiffs selected their replacements based on their voices and also their congeniality. Therefore, he was extremely surprised to receive a telegram in Jerusalem informing him that he had been tapped and that he had 48 hours to accept – which of course he did.

While many of today's Whiffs take a leave of absence from their studies because of the demanding time commitment, "in those days we all continued to be full-time scholars and finished our degrees, despite the fact that we rehearsed every day for 1.5 hours and sang at least once a week at Mory's." During Orrin's time as a Whiff, the group traveled less than today. There was no world tour, although they performed all over America during their winter vacation and also went to Bermuda during their Spring Break.

Orrin remains friendly with many of his co-Whiffenpoofs of 1970 and they still meet regularly at reunions. Next year, the Whiffenpoofs will be celebrating 100 years of existence and Orrin is already looking forward to the festivities which will reunite generations of Whiff alumni in New Haven.

This article originally appeared in the July 2008 issue of ESSENCE, Haaretz English Edition's lifestyle magazine.